Laterally-moving door or gate.



PATENTED JAN. 3, 1905.

J. M. CORNELL. LATERALLY MOVING DOOR 0R GATE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26. 1904.

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IFIIIIIII Ill 1' lllll will , womom UNITED STATES Patented January 3, 1905.

PATENT EErcE.

JOHN M. CORNELL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LATERALLY-IVIOVING DOOR OR GATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 778,952, dated January 3, 1905.

Application filed April 26, 1904. 7 Serial No. 205,039.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN M. CORNELL, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of, the borough of Manhattan, New York city, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Laterally-Moving Doors or Gates, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is primarily additional to Myron Cosseys improvement in laterally-moving doors, set forth in United States Letters Patent No. 682,224, dated August 29, 1899; and it consists in a novel Combination of parts whereby the trolley or ball-bearing construction of that patent is or may be embodied in double doors or gates so connected with each other that by moving one the other is moved in the opposite direction to quickly open or close the doorway or gateway.

The present invention further consists in certain novel combinations of parts hereinafter claimed whereby the motion of the secondary door or gate, and consequently the power to be transmitted thereto, is reduced one-half or to any desired extent with reference to facilitating the movement of such secondary door or gate by power applied to the primary leaf or member.

A sheet of drawings accompanies this specification as part thereof.

Figure 1 is a face view of a pair of laterally-moving doors or gates embodying both parts of the presentinvention. Figs. 2, 8, and 4 are fragmentary vertical sections on the broken lines correspondingly numbered, and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary face view illustrating a second species of the same invention.

Like reference-letters indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The improved laterally-moving doors or gates are double-that is to say, they are composed of two leaves or members A or A and B and B movable edgewise in opposite directions to open or close the doorway or gateway. Both members in common are suspended by peculiar means, comprising endwise-movable bars C and D or C and D above the respective members, fixed bars E and F above and below each of said movable bars, rolling-antifriction devices G, interposed between said movable bars and said fixed bars, and connections H between said movable bars and the respective subjacent members, said antifriction devices Gr being preferably and conveniently rolling balls accommodated by grooves in the opposing edges of the bars and said connections H being preferably and conveniently vertical eyebolts having their eye ends bolted to the faces of the movable bars and their screw-threaded lower ends coupled to the door or gate members by pairs of nuts I and 1 above and below the horizontal flange of a bar J, of L iron or steel, attached to the back of each member and perforated to receive the stems of the bolts, as shown in Fig. 5. This form of connection facilitates assembling the parts and provides in a simple and effective manner for adjusting the laterallymoving members A or A and B or B as to height to take up wear and to keep them in working condition. Its specific form is not, however, considered essential to the present invention. A back plate K, preferably of iron or steel and of sufficient extent to support all said fixed bars, with their appurtenances, in their relative positions, is supported above the doorway or gateway in any preferred manner, and the respective fixed bars E and F are attached to its face, with suitable distance pieces L interposed, as in Figs. 2 and 3. Suitable stops M and M serve, respectively, to limit the opening and closing movements by contacting with the rolling-ball antifriction devices.

To provide for transmitting motion from one of the members A or B and A or B to the other, so that both will move simultaneously and so that the doorway or gateway will be opened or closed by power applied to either member, a toothed wheel N or N, having its axis perpendicular to said back plate K and to the plane of said bars, is supported by a short horizontal shaft or trunnions it 0, mounted in bearings formed, respectively, in said back plate K and in a bridge-piece O, attached to the edges of said back plate, said shaft or trunnions 7c 0 being located between the inner ends of said movable bars C and D or C and D which are preferably notched, as shown at n, to embrace the hub of said wheel N or N 2 between them. A pair of racks P and Q or P and Q attached to the respective movable bars and extended horizontally in planes parallel therewith, intermesh with said toothed wheel N or N at bottom and top, respectively, and serve, respectively, to transmit motion to and from said wheel N or N when either of the members A orB and A or B is moved laterally edgewise. The lower rack P or P is kept in mesh with the toothed Wheel N or N and prevented from sagging out of shape by a shelf attached to the lower edge of the adjacent fixed bar F and projecting beneath said rack, as in Fig. 3. The other rack Q or Q is supported at its free end by a rigid hook e, embracing the upper edge of the adjacent fixed bar E, as in Fig. 2, and adapted to move freely with the rack and keep the same from sagging or springing out of line with the toothed wheel N or N Preferably and conveniently the primary member A is twice as wide as the secondary member B or of any preferred greater width, so that relatively little power applied to the primary member will suffice to operate the secondary member. (See Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4:.) In this connection the toothed wheel N is constructed correspondingly oft wo diameters, or, in other words, with two circumferential series of teeth a and I) to intermesh, respectively, the longer series a with the rack P, attached to the endwise-movable bar (J, from which the primary member A is suspended, and the shorter series 5 with the rack Q, attached to.the endwise-movable bar D, from which the secondary member B is suspended. The racks themselves correspond in effective length with the respective endwise-movable bars to which they are attached. In the species illustrated by Fig. 5 two laterally-moving members A and B of equal width are suspended from endwise-movable bars C and D which are or may be supported in the same manner as those, 0 and D, shown in Figs. 1 to 4:. The members A and B being of equal width, their said endwise-movable bars C and D and the toothed portions of the racks P and Q attached to said endwise-movable bars, respectively, are of one and the same length. The toothed wheel N in this case has a single peripheral series of teeth and is simply meshed at bottom and top by the two racks P and Q, as in Fig. 5.

The endwise-movable bars 0 D or C D and the fixed bars E and F are ordinarily horizontal and substantially parallel with the upper edges of the respective members A B or A B of the door or gate. If preferred, the bars may be inclined, so as to give the members a tendency either to open or to close by gravity.

Other antifriction devices may take the place of ball-bearings, and other like modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

Having thus described said improvement. I claim as my invention and desire to patent under this specification 1. The combination with a door or gate having two members movable laterally in opposite directions, of end wise-movable bars above the respective members, fixed bars above and below said movable bars and parallel therewith, antifriction devices interposed between said movable bars and said fixed bars, suspending connections between said movable bars respectively and the subjacent members, a rotatable toothed wheel having a horizontal axis perpendicular to the plane of said movable bars and located at their inner ends, and a pair of racks in mesh with said wheel at bottom and at top respectively and attached at one end of each to said movable bars respectively the other end being free, substantially as hereinbefore specified. I

2. The combination with a door or gate having two members movable laterally in opposite directions,of endwise-movable bars above the respective members, fixed bars above and below said movable bars and parallel therewith, antifriction devices interposed between said movable bars and said fixed bars, suspending connections between said movable bars respectively and the subjacent members, a rotatable toothed wheel having a horizontal axis perpendicular to the plane of said movable bars and located at their'inner ends, a pair of racks in mesh with said wheel at bot tom and at top respectively and attached at one end of each to said movable bars respectively the other end being free, and supports for the free ends of said racks, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

3. The combination witha door or gate comprising a primary member and a secondary member movable laterally in opposite directions, the latter of less width than the former, of endwise-movable bars above the respective members, means for supporting the same, suspending connections between said bars and said members respectively,a rotatable toothed.

her and that of said secondary member, and a I pair of racks in mesh with the two series of teeth respectively, and attached at one end of each to said movable bars respectively the other being free, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

A. The combination with a door or gate comprising a primary member and a secondary member movable laterally in opposite directions, the latter of less width than the former, of endwise-movable bars, fixed bars above and below said movable bars, rolling balls interposed between said movable bars and said fixed bars, suspending connections between said movable bars and sa1d members respectively, a rotatable toothed wheel having a horizontal axis perpendicular to the plane of said bars at their inner ends and constructed with two series of teeth differing in circumferential extent correspondingly with the difference between the width of said primary member and that of said secondary member, and a pair of racks in mesh with the respective series of teeth, one at the bottom of said wheel and the other at its top, and attached at IO one end of each to said movable bars respectively the other end being free, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

JOHN M. CORNELL. Witnesses:

W. S. FOWLER, VERNON F. SMITH. 

